Editing Kenneth Clarke (section)

===Sitting as an Independent===
[[File:Clarke, May and Duncan 2019.jpg|thumb|Clarke sitting on the backbenches alongside [[Theresa May]], [[Sir Alan Duncan]] and [[Liam Fox]], 19 October 2019]]
{{Main|2019 suspension of rebel Conservative MPs}}
On 3 September 2019, Clarke joined 20 other rebel Conservative MPs to vote against the Conservative government of Boris Johnson.<ref>{{cite web |date=4 September 2019 |title=Boris Johnson to table motion for election after failed vote – as it happened |url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/sep/03/commons-showdown-looms-in-battle-over-no-deal-brexit-live |access-date=1 December 2022 |website=the Guardian }}</ref> The rebel MPs voted against a Conservative motion which subsequently failed. Effectively, they helped block Johnson's [[no-deal Brexit]] plan from proceeding on 31 October.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/09/04/parliament-whip-removed/ The Daily Telegraph] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905012258/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/09/04/parliament-whip-removed/ |date=5 September 2019 }}, Boris Johnson to strip 21 Tory MPs of the Tory whip in parliamentary bloodbath</ref> Subsequently, all 21 were advised that they had lost the Conservative whip<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-49578000|title=What is removing the whip, filibustering and other Brexit jargon?|website=BBC Newsbeat|date=4 September 2019|access-date=4 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904193653/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-49578000|archive-date=4 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Wire |date=5 April 2021 |title=West Bridgford Nottingham News {{!}} West Bridgford Wire |url=https://westbridgfordwire.com/,%20https://westbridgfordwire.com/ |access-date=1 December 2022 }}</ref> and were expelled as Conservative MPs, requiring them to sit as independents.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/principal/whips/|title=Whips|website=Parliament.uk|access-date=4 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722155857/https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/principal/whips/|archive-date=22 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/03/boris-johnson-suffers-commons-defeat-as-tories-turn-against-him|title=Boris Johnson to seek election after rebel Tories deliver Commons defeat|access-date=4 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903224603/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/03/boris-johnson-suffers-commons-defeat-as-tories-turn-against-him|archive-date=3 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> If they decided to run for re-election in a future election, the party would block their selection as Conservative candidates, though Clarke opted not to do so.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/>

On the edition of 3 September of [[BBC]]'s ''[[Newsnight]]'', Clarke discussed the situation, saying that he no longer recognised the Conservative Party, referring to it as "the [[Brexit Party]], rebadged". His rationale was "It's been taken over by a rather knockabout sort of character, who's got this bizarre crash-it-through philosophy... a Cabinet which is the most right-wing Cabinet any Conservative Party has ever produced."<ref name="rebadged">{{cite web|date=4 September 2019|title='It's the Brexit Party rebadged': Tory grandee Kenneth Clarke among 21 rebels|url=https://www.itv.com/news/2019-09-04/its-the-brexit-party-rebadged-tory-grandee-kenneth-clarke-among-21-rebels/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904082718/https://www.itv.com/news/2019-09-04/its-the-brexit-party-rebadged-tory-grandee-kenneth-clarke-among-21-rebels/|archive-date=4 September 2019|access-date=4 September 2019|website=ITV News}}</ref> In an interview on 7 September, Clarke rejected the suggestion that, like other former Conservative MPs, he could join the Liberal Democrats, but noted that, if he were to cast "a protest vote", he would "follow the Conservative tradition of voting Lib Dem."<ref>{{cite news|first1=Andrew|last1=Rawnsley|first2=Toby|last2=Helm|title=Ken Clarke: I am not sure yet, but I may protest and vote Lib Dem|newspaper=The Observer|date=7 September 2019|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/07/ken-clarke-interview-andrew-rawnsley-lost-tory-whip|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107021937/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/07/ken-clarke-interview-andrew-rawnsley-lost-tory-whip|archive-date=7 November 2019}}</ref>

In his capacity as Father of the House, Clarke presided over the House of Commons' [[2019 Speaker of the British House of Commons election|2019 Speakership election]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Syal|first=Rajeev|date=5 November 2019|title=Speaker Hoyle promises humour and quiet words|url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-guardian/20191105/281513637959771|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=10 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110071913/https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-guardian/20191105/281513637959771|archive-date=10 November 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> He then retired from the House of Commons at the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]]. Since [[Dennis Skinner]] lost his seat in the election, [[Peter Bottomley]] succeeded as Father of the House.